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YOU SAID “I DO NOT HAVE TIME”, I SAID “IT IS NOT YOUR PRIORITY” — THAI (VIETNAM)

Choosing presents is not just going to a shop and picking one randomly. Usually an idea of a present comes to my mind about one month before. The longer time I have to plan and the more complex the present is, the more love I put in that present. Buying present is a simultaneous process of selecting and deselecting present until I find one that I think the receiver will like.

The present is the core; the wrapping is the peripheral which makes the core shine. It is the first impression of the present-receiver which is worth putting effort in. Upon a survey of 2,000 people conducted by a gift wrap company, 10% of men never wrapped a present in their lives. Almost half of men had their present wrapped at the shop where they bought. Among those who wrap by themselves, about one third “saved” it to the very last minute, either on Christmas Eve or even Christmas morning!

This year, let’s spend your precious time to surprise your beloved by giving them a handmade Christmas present or having personalized wrapping. It could be someone you just met a month ago. Doesn’t matter, just amaze them! Also do it in advance!

I will show you the steps how to make a handmade present box by using old box and available natural materials.

Step 1: I used an old cereal box and some natural materials for decoration (Fig 1). You can use different leaves, branches, and wild fruits (all of these are close to Raatuse). I did not use them all actually.

Fig 1. The needed materials

Step 2: I prefer to have a box with a lid. I cut through three edges of the front cover to turn it into a lid. I covered all the surfaces of the box with white paper (just usual white printing paper). You can use colored or patterned paper. But I like to keep the background simple. Also the white color symbolizes snow (Fig 2).

Fig 2. The box with a lid before and after covered with white paper

Step 3: Let your creativity emerge. Do whatever you like or you think the receiver might like. Here I glued some small wild fruits on the top as LED lights. I used some branches and green spruce leaves to make a wreath (Fig 3).

Tips: Use white glue (valge liim) to glue the branches, fruits, and leaves. The glue turns to translucency when polymerized.

Fig 3. The white glue and the wreath on the lid of the box

Step 4: It was all about “polishing”. I added some small red fruits over the “LED lights” like a border. I placed some torn maple leaves, white and red fruits on the wreath (Fig 4).

Fig 4. The completed lid (front cover) of the box

Step 5: I just gave some extra things on a side surface: a heart-shaped bark, an Estonian phrase (Häid Jõule, which means Merry Christmas) doodled with spruce leaves, and a cut-out wild fruit as an exclamation mark (Fig 5).

Fig 5. The final look

I hope you can nail it and let’s surprise your beloved. #WrapPresent #RockBeloved